Today, I decided to take another day off from the bike, and instead hired a car to visit Tofino which is reputed as being one of the most beautiful parts of the island. It is a long way from Nanaimo to Tofino and the road was very windy with no shoulder, so sharing a car with a fellow cyclist like a good idea.
My fellow cyclist was Louise, a French Canadian who gave me the opportunity to brush up on my French. Sorry, correction. It gave Louise the opportunity to brush up on her English (the Queen's English no less and not this funny North American version)!
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First stop on the way was Cathedral Grove with its big big giant Douglas fir trees and a rather ominous sign saying "In case of high winds, please evacuate the area immediately". Having witnessed a comparatively small tree be blown over once before in life, I was pleased that it was a fairly calm day but kept listening for any strange creaking and was ready to run at any point. The trees themselves were mighty impressive though - just about ready to convert into a nice living room table!
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The next stop was a salmon ladder near Port Alberni. Here, we had the pleasure of seeing salmon jump several feet up a waterfall (the stupid ones that failed to spot the ladder). It is one of those things that you always see in pictures but don't really believe it happens until you actually see it.
Then we drove over the hills to Tofino where I was reminded of driving my Nissan Micra along the A272 (another under powered car and windy road). The trick as I learnt then is to not lose momentum but at the same time keep the car on the road. Louise looked a little bit nervous, so I was sure I had remembered the right technique! (Mother - it is OK, I have taken a bit of creative writing license with this last bit...)
After a hike at Ucluelet around the Lighthouse Loop, we made our way into Tofino. I am sure Tofino would have looked nicer had it not been raining. Still, if it was going to rain, I would much rather be in the car than on a bicycle, so the day worked out well. On the way back, we stopped off at a place where, apparently, you are pretty much guaranteed to see Black Bear but by the time we arrived we were there in the dark. I am fairly sure we saw a bear but given the light conditions, there is a good chance it could have just been a large bunny rabbit.
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